Open Access

ARTICLE

Childhood Environmental Unpredictability and Psychopathy: Mediating Roles of Insecure Attachment and Life History Strategy

Fengbo Guo^1,2,3,#, Leru Zhong^1,#, Xingru Huang¹, Zewei Chen¹, Xiaoyuan Sun^1,3,*

1 School of Humanities and Management, Guangdong Medical University, Dongguan, 523808, China
2 Research Center for Quality of Life and Applied Psychology, Guangdong Medical University, Dongguan, 523808, China
3 Key Laboratory for Quality of Life and Psychological Assessment and Intervention, Guangdong Medical University, Dongguan, 523808, China

* Corresponding Author: Xiaoyuan Sun. Email:
# Fengbo Guo and Leru Zhong share the co-first author

International Journal of Mental Health Promotion 2025, 27(2), 111-124. https://doi.org/10.32604/ijmhp.2025.058874

Received 23 September 2024; Accepted 27 December 2024; Issue published 03 March 2025

Abstract

Background: Childhood environmental unpredictability (CEU) is crucial to personal development, profoundly influence physical and psychological growth particularly, and psychopathy is recognized as a dark personality trait. The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of insecure attachment and life history strategy (LHS) on the relationship between CEU and psychopathy by establishing a sequential mediation model based on evolutionary life history theory and cognitive-affective personality system. Methods: A group of 532 undergraduates completed the measurements for CEU, insecure attachment, LHS, and psychopathy, and Bootstrap mediation test through SPSS 25.0 and PROCESS macro tool was used to examine the relationship among these variables. Results: The results revealed positive relations between CEU and insecure attachment (β = 0.87, p < 0.001), CEU and LHS (β = 0.11, p < 0.001), and CEU and psychopathy (β = 0.14, p < 0.001). Insecure attachment was also positively associated with LHS (β = 0.62, p < 0.001) and psychopathy (β = 0.04, p < 0.001). In addition, LHS was significantly associated with psychopathy (β = 0.08, p < 0.001). The relationship between CEU and psychopathy is mediated independently and sequentially by insecure attachment and LHS. Conclusion: The current research shows the relationship between CEU and psychopathy, as well as the mechanism of insecure attachment and life history strategy as mediators.

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Keywords

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